A little while ago, I came across what looked like an exciting Instagram giveaway. The post claimed that a popular clothing brand was giving away free gift cards to “celebrate hitting 200K followers.” The page looked legit at first glance, the profile picture matched the brand, and the post had a ton of likes and comments. All I had to do was click a link in their bio and “confirm my info” to enter. It felt real enough that I almost did it.
But this was actually a scam. The whole purpose was to collect people’s personal information, like full name, email, phone number, even credit card details “for verification.” The scammers use a fake account that looks similar to the real brand, and they often copy-and-paste real photos to make everything look official. The link they provide takes you to a website that looks professional but is designed only to steal your information or install malware on your device.
Looking back, there were several ways I could’ve checked if the giveaway was real. First, the username had a tiny misspelling that I didn’t notice at first. Second, the real brand hadn’t posted anything about a giveaway on their official page. Third, the website link didn’t use the brand’s real URL. If I had slowed down and double-checked these things, I would’ve immediately known it was fake.
If you ever come across a giveaway that looks “too good to be true,” always verify the account, check for spelling errors, search up whether the brand is actually hosting a giveaway, and never enter personal information on sketchy websites. Taking a few seconds to double-check can save you from getting scammed.
